


Second Gen

by vibingintheinbetween



Series: Phanniemay 2019 [5]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Day 5: Second Gen, Dissection, Gen, Phanniemay 2019, it’s not reallly a dissection fic but it is mentioned so i will tag it anyway, tw dissection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 09:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25348615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vibingintheinbetween/pseuds/vibingintheinbetween
Summary: Maddie is woken up in the middle of the night by a ghost attack. When she later finds one of the ghosts that is responsible for said attack vulnerable, she isn’t one to pass on such a golden opportunity to further her research.
Series: Phanniemay 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831717
Comments: 3
Kudos: 70





	Second Gen

**Author's Note:**

> tw for the mention of dissection

Maddie woke to the sound of cement cracking and a bad pun. That could only mean one thing: a ghost fight that involved Phantom. Again. 

She looked at the clock. 3:05 am. Maddie sighed. Of course, since ghosts don’t sleep they’ll fight at any time they want to. She stole a glance at Jack. The big figure next to her was sleeping soundly, snoring through all the chaotic noises and witty banter outside. She pecked him on the cheek.

“Sweetie, what’s the commotion? Are the ghosts trying to steal my fudge?” he murmured, still only half awake. 

“No, Jack, just some cats fighting in the street. I’m just going to get some water. Don’t—“

She was interrupted by his loud snores. 

She smiled in the dark. 

She quietly got out of bed, quickly putting on her HAZMAT suit. Her husband was sweet and he meant well, but he wasn’t exactly stealthy. And the orange suit certainly did not help. If she moved fast enough, Maddie could get to the fight in time to possibly capture the ghosts. 

Maddie tiptoed past Jazz’s and Danny’s rooms. She was rather surprised that Jazz was still asleep. Her daughter had been getting quite good at ghost hunting as of late. But this was for the better. No need to wake them up and alarm them. 

Despite her recent interest in the family business, Jazz was still a psychologist. She would be mad at Maddie for bothering with ghosts at this hour. She would go on a tangent about how ghosts took up too much of their time and how she and Jack,”Have an obsession, just as much as the ghosts do!” Maddie shook her head. Jazz may be smart as a whip, but ghosts were Maddie’s field of expertise. 

Danny…...Maddie didn’t know exactly how he’d react. The boy seemed to be so afraid of ghosts nowadays. Which was so unlike him. Then again, he’d been so distant lately, Maddie wasn’t so sure what was “like him” anymore. She sighed. She worried about her son. A lot. But it’s not like she could force him into telling her what’s been going on. She didn’t need Jazz to know that that was a very bad idea. So all she could do was wait, and hope that soon he’d start talking to her again. 

In the basement, she decided to take the Fenton Finder™️, the Fenton Hand Blaster™️, and the Jack o’ Nine Tails™️. All patented and licensed as per the regulations of that year. 

All stocked up, she went out into the night.

~~~ 

When Maddie had left her house some minutes earlier, the neighbors hadn’t made too much of a fuss over the fight. After all, ghosts and their subsequent fights were as common as rain nowadays. 

She followed the trail of property destruction to its end. Phantom probably won this one. Like he always did. She took out her Fenton Finder(™️) and input Phantom’s ecto-signature. 

As the ghost tracker processed the information, Maddie looked around. Then she noticed another trail. A trail of ectoplasm leading to the park. That meant….that one of the ghosts was injured. This was a golden opportunity. An injured ghost would be much easier to capture and subdue. 

She turned her device off, it was too loud anyway, and let the drops and puddles of ectoplasm lead her to her prey.

~~~~

There he was, floating in the middle of a clearing surrounded by birch trees in the park. By the light of the full moon, she could tell that he was still bleeding. A Fenton Thermos(™️) lay beside him on the grass. 

Maddie silently inched her way to a bush close enough to his little sanctuary, careful not to step on any stray twigs and cause a snapping sound. She kept her eyes on him, and her ears open to any indication that he was aware of her presence. 

The ghost slowly lowered himself to the ground, wincing from his wounds. He was muttering to himself and Maddie only caught a few words. 

“Skulker….new gadgets…”

Maddie readied her Jack O’Nine Tails. The infamous ghost boy was only a few meters away from her. She decided it was best to stun him with the weapon first, (in case he wasn’t as vulnerable as he looked at the moment) and capture him in his own (stolen) Thermos after. 

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” the specter screamed, and Maddie flinched, thinking it was directed at her. But no, she had not been discovered. The ghost had just managed to hurt himself by accident. 

This one was so strange. Of all the ghosts in and outside of Amity Park, this Phantom (as he likes to be called) was the most powerful, the most dangerous, and yet the townspeople adored him.

“Freakin Vlad Masters. I’m gonna fricking kill him!” he said to the moon as Maddie crouched in the bushes. She was aghast. He added a little something else, more to himself, that Maddie didn’t quite catch. But that was of little to no importance. 

She honestly didn’t see why Jack liked Vlad so much. She liked him, sure. And if she was being honest with herself, she only tolerated Vlad because of how much Jack liked him and because she didn’t want to completely cut him off. The three of them were close in college after all and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. But he was a bit of a creep, and she just didn’t like the way he acted around her and her family sometimes. He gave her bad vibes. But that didn’t mean that Vlad deserved to die. 

How could the people of Amity Park treat Phantom like such a hero? He was a ghost and all ghosts were evil. That should be common knowledge at this point. Here he was, saying that he wanted to kill their mayor. Not only that, Phantom’s fights with the other ghosts cause so much property damage and so many injuries. He’s brainwashed almost the entire town into thinking he’s the “good guy”, the “hero”. But ghosts are nothing but evil. 

Maddie cocked her Jack O’Nine Tails. 

Phantom turned around, startled, but she could see he was still dazed. 

She fired.

The nine long arms of the weapon whipped around Phantom and tied him up, while the sharp ends dug into his flesh and started zapping him.

After a few seconds of agonized screaming, Phantom was out cold. Although, that figure of speech was a tad redundant considering how ghosts (being dead) were already cold. 

Maddie walked over quickly and picked up the stolen Fenton Thermos(™). She sucked him into it and sat down on the grass, wondering at what she had just done. 

She did it. She finally captured Phantom! She turned the thermos around in her hands, smiling. She was almost giddy with happiness. Phantom was such a...different ghost. Here she actually had the chance to examine him and find out what made him so unique. 

There was no time to lose then. Even though Amity Park was quite used to all sorts of noises in the night, Maddie knew it was best to get this specter home before one of his many human fans or few ghostly allies realized what had happened and went after her. 

She gathered her things and did her best to quietly run home. 

~~~

By the time she had gotten home, all the lights in Maddie’s neighborhood had turned off. She checked the time; it was only 4 am. Seems like the few people who had been curious enough to get out of bed to see the fight earlier were now sleeping once more. 

After a few minutes dealing with a minor problem involving only getting Phantom (without getting the other ghost, Skulker) (although she planned on doing so soon) out of the thermos, she finally had him on her examining table. 

She quickly strapped him to the table and activated the anti-ghost locks. They locked a ghost in place. Once turned on, a ghost caught in them would be “locked” in their current form and also in place.These were their heavy duty ones. With those turned on, even a strong ghost like Phantom wouldn’t be able to use their powers. 

~~~

While preparing her equipment, Maddie wondered if she should wake Jack for this. He would love this. But she didn’t want to turn her back on Phantom. There were many reasons as to why he was the strongest ghost in Amity Park, and the strongest ghost they had ever fought. What if he suddenly came to while she was busy trying to get Jack to wake up? While she trusted her and Jack’s inventions, she didn’t want to take any chances. Who knows when she’ll have an opportunity like this ever again? She sighed. She’d just have to make it up to him in the morning with fudge. A lot of fudge.

She brought her tray of dissecting equipment over to the examining table. Phantom was slowly waking up. Maddie wondered if she should get some anesthesia. No, there’s no need for that. It would be good to be able to talk to the ghost while the procedure was underway. Aside from the dissection itself, talking to Phantom might help her get some answers to questions she’s been so frustrated by. And maybe she was a bit mad at Phantom for always managing to escape her. 

As she prepared her things, she flicked her eyes over his dormant form. 

He looked so peaceful, almost as if he were asleep. It was probably the fluorescent lights contrasting with his own eerie glow that somehow made Phantom seem different. He almost looked like Danny in that moment. Seeing the way his white hair was strewn all over his head, she sighed. He needed a haircut, just like Danny. She almost reached out and ruffled his hair, like how she did sometimes with her son, no matter how much it embarrassed him.

She shook her head and pulled her hand back. This wasn’t the time or place to be a mother. Right now, she was a scientist. Dr. Madeline Fenton was in. 

She knew Phantom was special somehow. He managed to trick almost everyone, even her own kids, into thinking that he’s good. With that he gets away with most anything. All the property destruction, the injuries, and the chaos. No one minds because he “does it to save the town”. 

Another thing about this specter was that he was probably the most complicated one in Amity park. He was the one that resembled humans the most. He seemed to be the only one capable of copying complex human emotions so well. Maybe that was why he was so popular.

The ghost seemed to finally understand the situation he was in. 

“Maddie, wait, you don’t understand,” he said as he tried to activate his powers. To no avail. He started to panic a bit. “You don’t want to do this-”

“And why not? Why wouldn’t a scientist like myself want to continue my research?” she asked, calmly.

“Because you can’t! I’m--’

“Can’t I? You’re not exactly in a position to be making demands, Phantom.” 

She could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead and neck. Interesting. He was the most human ghost she and Jack had ever encountered. This dissection should answer their questions as to why. She moved toward him, scalpel in hand.

“WAIT!”

Maddie cringed. He was so loud. He’d wake up Jack and the kids. He’d wake up the entire neighborhood. 

But that wasn’t the only thing that had bothered her. His voice had cracked, which was no surprise since he must have died before puberty ended, but why she was suddenly reminded of her son in that moment was disconcerting. Phantom reminded her of when Danny was still little and would get so frustrated when she wasn’t paying attention to him. It also reminded her of her Danny now, the one who was still figuring out puberty. 

“Be quiet!” she hissed. “You’ll wake my children.”

He spoke louder. “OH I’M SORRY I SURE DON’T WANT TO WAKE UP ANYBODY. CERTAINLY NOT ANYONE NAMED JAZ—”

The gag Maddie had quickly gotten was just right. The muffled sounds of him trying his hardest to say something were much better than his inhumanly loud shouting. The quiet also helped her to clear her thoughts. She didn’t need to be thinking about Danny now, not when she knew that this was such a monumental scientific moment. 

She picked up her scalpel once more.

Phantom fought against his restraints. Shrieking. His muffled shouts were now accompanied by tears. 

He—It, she corrected herself—was begging her now. 

Maddie hesitated for a second. Only a second. 

The ghost of course was only copying humans.  
Ghosts can’t cry. Ghosts can’t feel anything other than anger or hate. They completely lacked the ability to feel empathy. Ghosts were mere imprints of the good, caring human beings they used to be. It was all just a ploy. It was trying to trick her into setting it free. 

It was trying to say something. No doubt something to stall her or something it’d fabricate to get her to stop. 

She held her tool tightly and started the dissection. She ignored the eerily human-like cries of the specter and carried on with her work. It was all for research. She needed to find out what made this one so different. Why this ghost was the most human. How it could copy humans so convincingly. For a world without ghosts. A better world. She thought about her children sleeping upstairs. It was so the next generation could lead safer lives. For her—

“MOM, PLEASE.”

The ghost in all its struggling somehow managed to remove the gag from its mouth. Maddie knew she should’ve made it tighter. She chose to ignore its choice of words. You can’t trust anything a ghost says after all. 

“STOP.”

Despite her strong determination to just get on with the procedure, she found herself staring at her subject. 

It was looking up at her with pleading eyes filled with tears. Those green eyes that so reminded her of her son’s blue ones. It looked so vulnerable in that moment, so...human. She almost obeyed the command to stop from the specter she held captive. 

But no, she thought as she tightened its gag. It was all for her children after all. For Jazz. For Danny.

For the second generation.


End file.
